Dancing with the Stars 8

Dancing with the Stars 8 (Courtesy Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

Season eight of Dancing with the Stars premiered on Monday, March 9, 2009, as part of ABC's spring line-up. The show generally followed the format of previous seasons, with 13 couples, although there were some changes, including two new dances (Argentine Tango and Lindy Hop), and an occasional dance-off between the bottom two couples, in order to determine who will be eliminated. The show was again hosted by Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris. Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Carrie Ann Inaba all returned as judges again this season.

Originally, the season was advertised as the first U.S. season where a husband and wife would compete against each other: rodeo champion Ty Murray and singer-songwriter Jewel. The two had married the previous year after a ten-year courtship. However, just prior to the series, Jewel fractured both her tibias and was unable to perform. She was replaced on the show by Playboy model Holly Madison. Murray chose to continue on the show, and Jewel appeared during the season as a special musical guest.

Nancy O'Dell, the then co-host of Access Hollywood, was also originally announced to be on the show, but was forced to withdraw from the competition due to a torn meniscus, which required surgery. She was replaced by Melissa Rycroft, a former Dallas Cowboys cheerleader who won season 13 of The Bachelor. She only had two days to practice her first dance.

Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson won the competition, beating actor Gilles Marini by less than 1%. She is the youngest competitor and champion on the series. Both of them also competed on season 15 all-stars edition in 2012 along with Rycroft.

Overview

Week 1: Gilles Marini & Cheryl Burke received (the highest score of the night) for their cha-cha-cha. Although having only two days to practice for their Waltz, Melissa Rycroft & Tony Dovolani tied for second place with Shawn Johnson & Mark Ballas. Steve Wozniak and Karina Smirnoff received the lowest score of the night, a , for their cha-cha-cha.

Week 2: Steve-O suffered a pulled back muscle while performing his salsa during dress rehearsal, and therefore could not perform live. Instead, the judges' scores were based on his pre-recorded dress rehearsal video, which earned him a , the lowest score of the night. Gilles Marini performed a quickstep, which earned him a , the highest score of the night. Once the scores from weeks one and two were combined, Gilles & Cheryl held the top spot with 51, Mellissa & Tony, were placed in second, with 49 points, and Shawn & Mark, in third with 47. Steve Wozniak and Belinda Carlisle were revealed to be in the bottom two. They both participated in a dance-off, and they both scored . In the end, Belinda & Jonathan were eliminated.

Week 3: Shawn & Mark, Melissa & Tony, and Gilles & Cheryl all scored , making a three way tie. David Alan Grier improved greatly from his score of 17 the previous week, to a score of the next week. Steve Wozniak & Karina Smirnoff received the second lowest score in the history of the show for their Samba: (4, 3, 3). Still, Wozniak managed to escape the bottom two and avoided the dance-off. Denise & Maks and Holly & Dmitry were revealed to be in the bottom two, and they would be participating in the dance-off. Holly improved her score by one point, receiving 18, while Denise improved by four points, receiving a 20. However, Denise Richards was eliminated. This was the second time Maksim Chmerkovskiy was eliminated after a samba, since Tia Carrere in season two.

Week 4: Gilles & Cheryl received the first of the season for their Argentine Tango, tying him with Sabrina Bryan in season five for the earliest awarded. Melissa & Tony came in second, receiving a for their Lindy Hop, while Lil' Kim & Derek came in third, receiving a (9, 8, 10) for their Argentine Tango. Steve & Karina received the lowest score, a on their Aregentine Tango. Holly & Dmitry, Steve & Karina, and Steve-O & Lacey were revealed to be in the bottom three. In the end, Holly Madison and Steve Wozniak were eliminated in the show's only mid-season double elimination.

Week 5: Once again, Gilles & Cheryl climbed to first place, with a score of for their Paso Doble. Shawn & Mark and Lil' Kim & Derek, both came in second place, receiving for their Vienesse Waltzes. They were also the only couple to receive 10s (from Carrie Ann Inaba and Bruno). Steve-O & Lacey Schwimmer received lowest scores of the night, a for their Viennese Waltz, yet they still managed to escape the bottom two and the dance-off. David & Kym and Lawrence & Edyta were revealed to be in the bottom two and the dance-off. David danced his Vienesse Waltz and improved his score by two points to a , while Lawrence did not improve his Paso Doble receiving a . However, David Alan Grier was eliminated.

Week 6: For the first time since the start of the competition, Gilles did not receive the highest score. Lil' Kim & Derek had the highest score, with a for their Jive. Steve-O & Lacey received the lowest score of the night, for their Rumba. Len Goodman gave them a 4, and Carrie Ann gave them a 7. Such a difference between judges' scores is rare. Furthermore, 4 is the lowest Week 6 score in the history of the show. They were subsequently eliminated.

Week 7: The stars were given the chance to design the costumes for their dances. Also occurring for this week, was the first group dance of the season dedicated to the 1960s. In fact, this is the only Dancing With The Stars season to say the "Treasure Of Rainbow Beard's Motto" in this show's history. Melissa & Tony took the top of the leaderboard for the second time with a near perfect. Lawrence Taylor & Edyta ?liwi"?ska ended up with the lowest score, a for their Waltz, and they were later eliminated.

Week 8: Melissa suffered a hairline fracture in her ribs, and could not perform her Jive live. Instead, the judges' scores were based on her rehearsal video. She received the lowest score of the night, a . Lil' Kim & Derek received the highest score, a for their Paso Doble. Team Tango (Gilles & Cheryl, Lil' Kim & Derek, and Ty Murray & Chelsie Hightower) managed to beat Team Mambo (Shawn & Mark, Lacey Schwimmer & Tony, and Chuck & Julianne) with a to Team Mambo's . Melissa's spot in the Team Mambo was filled in by Lacey Schwimmer who learned the dance in less than a day. Lacey and Tony were ignored during the scoring; however, the team score was added to Melissa's individual score. Chuck Wicks was eliminated in what Tom Bergeron called "the most shocking elimination this season".

Week 9: Despite her sustained injury, Melissa & Tony scored a perfect for their Samba, the second perfect score of the season. This, combined with their score of for the Viennese Waltz landed them in the top spot, with a total of . Ty and Chelsie landed in the bottom with a total score of , scoring a for their Argentine Tango (their highest individual score of the competition) and a for their Rumba (the lowest score of the night). However, Lil' Kim was eliminated. This elimination was met by boos from the audience and the judges gasping (with Carrie Ann Inaba holding back tears).

Week 10: Shawn and Mark received their first for their Argentine Tango. Gilles and Cheryl received a perfect for their Waltz and Salsa. This was the first time since season five that a perfect 60 has been achieved in the Semi-Finals as well as the first time since season five that a 30 alone was achieved in the Semi-Finals. Ty Murray and Chelsie were at the bottom of the leaderboard with a , receiving for their Viennese Waltz and for their Samba, and were eliminated.

Week 11: Gilles received a perfect score of for the Group Paso Doble. Shawn and Mark were the only couple to receive a perfect score for the Freestyle round. Shawn's combined score of 88 gave her the highest score of the night, tied with Gilles; the first time in eight weeks. Mark became the third, and only male, two-time champion. Shawn, Gilles, and Melissa are the only three couples to get perfect 30s this season, they were also the part of four dancers to maintain above a judges score of 7 (along with Lil' Kim) with Gilles receiving nothing below an 8 and Shawn receiving only one 7 (in week 1). Shawn and Gilles were the only couples not to be in the bottom two or at least not under the red light. Shawn Johnson, Drew Lachey, Brooke Burke, Kristi Yamaguchi, Donny Osmond, Nicole Scherzinger, Hines Ward, and Melissa Rycroft are the only winners not to be in the bottom two on their winning season. Shawn is the fourth female winner, and additionally the sixth winner to get a perfect 30 on the freestyle.

* Due to an injury, Melissa Rycroft was unable to perform her Jive, or as part of Team Mambo, on the live show. Lacey Schwimmer filled in for her on Team Mambo instead. Rycroft's rehearsal tape for her Jive was shown and scored, as Steve-O was forced to do in Week 2.

Professional dancer competition

Six professional dancers, three men and three women, will compete live in a weekly dance competition for a guaranteed spot as a professional dancer to be paired with a celebrity next season.

For the first week, six professionals will be paired into three couples and will compete in the first round with their chosen style of dance, either Latin or Ballroom. Of the six dancers, one male and one female will be eliminated based on fewest viewer votes.

In the second week, the four remaining professionals will pair up and compete in whichever style dance they did not do the first week. The dancer with the lowest number of viewer votes, whether it be male or female, will be eliminated.

In the third week, the three remaining professionals will teach a celebrity from a previous season, and the dancer with the lowest number of viewer votes will be eliminated.

In the fourth week, the two professionals will pair up with a current pro and choreograph a Ballroom and a Latin routine. The dancer with the highest number of votes will win.

For the May 12 "Design a Dance" performance, viewers had voted in the weeks beforehand about what style dance they wanted (Quickstep), what song they wanted the dance to ("It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"), and what professionals they wanted to do the dance (Mark Ballas, Lacey Schwimmer, Derek Hough, and Julianne Hough). Also, Dancing with the Stars held an online contest where viewers could submit their drawings for outfits for the performance. The winner was Rebecca Farmer from New York City. Her designs were turned into the outfits for the performers, and she won a trip to the show.